Patchwork Partners – 30 Years of the Havering Quilters

Our latest exhibition at Havering Museum is to celebrate the Pearl anniversary of the Havering Quilters, that’s 30 years of quilting from this local group. The group first met at an embroidery class held at Havering College and decided together to start a group for their quilting after the class ended. I was lucky enough to meet some of these ladies at Havering Museum when they were visiting the exhibition. Some of the ladies were part of the original members and some were present members. They had decided to meet up again to visit the exhibition and share some memories of their time together. I was pleased to chat to Mainie, Shirley, Tessa, June and Joyce along with Chris Stables whose idea it was to start the group. The quilts themselves look magnificent hanging in our exhibition space. One of the highlights is the quilt which was made for the 60th anniversary of St Georges Hospital in Hornchurch.

There really are so many wonderful examples of the handmade quilts displayed in the exhibition room such as the quilt made to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Havering Quilters.

Dotted around the museum are stories about the Havering Quilters and more examples of their embroidery skills. Of course we have on permanent display the fantastic Havering Quilt which luckily was rescued from a skip after the closure of Harold Wood hospital. This really is such an interesting exhibition and hopefully will inspire some more budding quilters in Havering.